Dr. Piya Sorcar is the founder and CEO of TeachAIDS, where she leads a team of experts in medicine, public health, and education to develop innovative software for HIV/AIDS prevention. All of these materials are offered to the public under a Creative Commons license, making it possible for individuals and organizations to disseminate education to those who need it the most — for free.
To date, the material has been translated into 15 languages and has reached over 70 countries and numerous educators, governments, and NGOs, impacting millions of lives for the better. “The only reason people can use what we have is because of Creative Commons,” Piya says. “It’s 100% due to the way CC licenses work.”
Dr. Piya Sorcar is the founder and CEO of TeachAIDS. At TeachAIDS, Piya leads a team of world experts in medicine, public health, and education to develop innovative, deeply researched, and culturally appropriate software for HIV/AIDS prevention around the world. All of these materials are under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (BY-NC-ND) license, making it possible for individuals and organizations to disseminate education to those who need it the most — for free.
To date, the material is available in 15 languages and has reached over 70 countries and numerous educators, governments, and NGOs, impacting millions of lives for the better.
TeachAIDS developed its first fully customized versions of the TeachAIDS animated software in 2010 in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, featuring the voices and likenesses of some of the state's most renowned cultural icons. With a population of 84 million, the highest stigma against those who are HIV positive in India, and with India having the third highest number of HIV-positive people in the world, Andhra Pradesh was a prime area for TeachAIDS to distribute its product.
A few years ago, the stigma was so high in this area that HIV-positive children were expelled from schools for fear that the virus would spread to other children. The expulsion resulted in a strong public outcry, with parents and educators coming together for public debates in late 2009. Eventually, parents conceded that they didn’t know enough about HIV and asked the government to provide more information — leaving government officials at a loss. There were no appropriate, existing HIV educational materials available for distribution.
Working with the state government and local entities, TeachAIDS was prepared to fill that void in health education. In 2010, TeachAIDS launched their materials in the state, and by 2011, the Andhra Pradesh State AIDS Control Society distributed 25,000 copies of TeachAIDS materials to schools and hospitals around the state and actively use the program to this day.
Coming full circle — the same HIV positive children that sparked a public outcry in Andhra Pradesh were eventually let back into schools. In a state where sex education is taboo, TeachAIDS material has catalyzed a governmental, societal, and cultural change. By making the materials free and available, it has spread to the millions of people in Andhra Pradesh. “It’s because of CC that these materials reached thousands of schools in a location where the education was desperately needed,” says Piya. “The only reason people can use what we have is because of Creative Commons. They can make as many copies as they want, which they couldn’t do otherwise.”
Once TeachAIDS produces those free resources, anyone can use them for free, without even asking for permission. Those same resources that Piya’s team developed for Andhra Pradesh helped another community on the other side of the globe.
In Kenya, Lena Koh tells her story about using TeachAIDS as a Health Program Development Director at Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust in the Chyulu Hills.
Lena first came across TeachAIDS during an internship designing an HIV/AIDS health education program in India. As an intern, there was no budget to spend on gathering materials. “If TeachAIDS wasn’t for free, I would not have been able to use it. I feel it is essential for the materials to be free. I don’t think I would’ve ‘discovered’ this material if it wasn’t,” says Lena.
When Lena started her position in Kenya, she turned to TeachAIDS once again — this time to its Swahili language version. “I think free access to TeachAIDS has garnered interest from different organizations and individuals that are willing to help translate the material for free, resulting in TeachAIDS being able to roll out the video in so many languages, so quickly.”
Armed with the tools to aid in HIV prevention, Lena presented the material to Maasai’s youth and teachers during its annual sports tournament. In a video interview, Elijah and Moses, two teachers from the local primary school, commented on HIV awareness in their community and the TeachAIDS material: “The challenge we face is the dissemination of information. The community lacks the [education] on this [illness],” says Elijah.
This lack of information often leads to stigma, and the perpetuation of misinformation. TeachAIDS material was able to break down myths and misconceptions about how HIV is transmitted, some of which Elijah and Moses had up until watching the videos.
“We are now able to go on teaching our peers about HIV. [Right now] they don’t have the [knowledge] of how they can prevent themselves against HIV,” says Moses.
According to Lena, “As teachers, [Elijah and Moses] are in the best position to disseminate the information they have learned to their students. The most wonderful thing about [TeachAIDS] being free is that I can share it with others! […] Many comment that they’ve never seen anything like it before and appreciate the easy access to such a valuable teaching tool.”
TeachAIDS is making a true impact in the lives of millions. The correct knowledge combined with open licensing and access to the materials continue to allow Piya, Lena, Elijah, and Moses to help others in the fight against HIV.
“With basically all of our stories, the only reason people can use what we have is because of Creative Commons. It’s 100% due to the way CC licenses work,” says Piya.
Read more Team Open stories:
Nonprofit and advocacy
Piya Sorcar (Team Open) was written by Meryl Mohan for Creative Commons. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The illustration of Piya Sorcar was created by Luke Surl. To the extent possible under the law, Luke Surl has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights under the CC0 Public Domain Declaration.